Ox-bow.



J. W. REEVES.

OX BOW.

APPLICATION TILED NOV. 28. 1910.

1,040,756. Patented 001;. 8, 1912.

' J a" g f J g 7 Z9 QT ZZ Z0 Attbrneys JAMES WILEY REEVES, OFBURNSVILLE, MISSISSIPPI.

OX-BOW.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 8, 1912.

Application filed November 28, 1910. Serial No. 594,567.

I '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMESN. Rnnvns, a citizen of the United States,residing at Burnsville, in the county of T ishomingo and State ofMississippi, have invented a new and useful OX-BOW, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to neck yokcs, such as ordinarily used on oxen,and more es pecially to the bows thereof; and the object of the same isto produce an improved fastening bet-ween the bow and the yoke.

To this end the invention consists in the details set forth below andshown in the drawings hereto attached, and in which- Figure l is aperspective view of the de vice complete, Fig. 2 is a perspective Viewof the key, Figs. 3, 4; and 5 are sectional views showing differentsteps in the act of attaching the bow.

Referring to the said drawings, the letter Y designates the ox yokewhich is usually made of wood, and the letter B designates the bow whichI prefer to make of bent tubing and in a variety of sizes. One leg ofthe bow usually and preferably projects through a round hole H in theyoke, and the other leg through a slot S therein, this arrangementpermitting the use of a narrower bow than that shown in the drawing,whereas the length or depth of different bows will vary according to theuse to which they are to be put.

Coming now more particularly to the present invention, the letter Kdesignates a key which is employed for fastening my improved OX bow inplace. This key best seen in Fig. 2 is made of metal having a flat bodyI-shaped in plan View and includ ing rectangular heads 5 connected by anarrow stem 6 which is rounded on its op poslte edges 7 so as to leaveshoulders 8 facing toward each other. The bow B is provided in one orboth its legs with an upright key-hole slot 9 whose length equals thegreatest width of the head 5 of the key as best seen in Fig. 3, and therounded end 10 of said key-hole slot has a diameter which equals thegreatest width of the neck 6 of the key so that said neck may be turnedtherein. Upon the yoke Y is placed, and in some cases may be secured byscrews 19 as shown, a plate or washer 20 made preferably rectangular incontour, and having a round hole 21 of a size to closely fit this leg ofthe bow B. The use of this plate permits the application of the bowto ayoke which has one hole H and one slot S, the plate lying over the slotS and presenting a hole which is spaced from the hole H a distance equalto the width of the bow which is being used. Thus it will be seen thatwith the use of such a plate any bow within a reasonable limit can beconnected to the yoke, provid ing only that the hole H and slot Sthrough the yoke are of sufficient width to admit the legs of the bow.It is intended that the inner leg shall pass freely through the hole H,while the outer leg shall pass through the slot S and the hole 21 in theplate and be held by the key K passing through the key-hole 9 at a pointabove said plate. Having secured this plate to the how, the parts areassembled by inserting the legs of the bow upward through the yoke, oneleg passing through the hole H and remaining freely therein and theother leg passing through the hole 21 in the plate 20 and the Whole bowbeing raised so that the leg which has the keyhole slot 9 shall beprojected considerably through the plate as seen in Fig. 3. The key isthen turned on edge and inserted through the key-hole slot, then it israised until its neck stands within the rounded end 10 of said slot asseen in Fig. 4;, then it is turned axially for a quarter revolutionuntil the longest diameter of said neck stands transversely of therounded end of the keyhole slot at which time the neck cannot pass downinto the small end of the slot because the neck in that direction iswider than said slot, and then the entire bow is dropped to the positionshown in Flig. 5 when the key will rest fiat upon the p ate.

The assembling of parts as just described is of course done after theyoke has been placed upon the neck of the animal, and the bow is placedastride its neck in a mannor well understood; and it will be found thatwith but little practice the parts can be assembled very quickly in themanner above described. Thereafter the animal will have extreme freedomof action whether going forward or turning corners or even .if it shouldbe backed, and I have found by experience that if the animal should liedown or fall down into a cramped position where it is necessary toremove the bow before the animal can be got up again, the parts can bevery readily disconnected without the use of any tools.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for What I claim as new is Thecombination with a yoke having a circular opening extending therethroughand a longitudinally extending slot, of a plate secured to the yoke andbridging the slot said plate being adjustable longitudinally of the slotand having a circular opening therein adapted to register with the slot,a U-shaped bow having its ends extending through the circular openingsin the yoke the bow above the plate being formed with a bow beingreduced to permit rotation of the key within the slot, the fiat endportions of the key bearing downwardly on the plate and constitutingsupports for the bow, the pressure of said end portions upon the plateserving to prevent rotation of the key within the bow.

In testimony'that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixedmy signa- ;ture in the presence of two witnesses. and platerespectively, that end portion of 1 JAMES WILEY REEVES.

WVitnesses;

WALTER L. linemen,

. G ossfive cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents,Washington, D, G.

